to the plan or size of a certain book, on such and such paper, and the binding to be done in such and such a manner and who is the public printer;" from Appleton, of Boston, to Harpers, of New York, who will undertake this work, and do it cheapest, according to the plan proposed by the Secretary of the Interior? Are we to suppose that he will propose a plan for the work not durable in its character, and advantageous to the country? Not at all. Then by this means we have competition, and competition regulates prices. Competition brings down labor to the mere point where it can make support, and it is our duty to make it so. Now, I ask, is the Union office to be deprived of the same privilege, or the Intelligencer or any book-binding establishment in the United States? No. They come in competition; and if they have the material, and the time, and the proper capacity to execute the work, there is the public announcement; put in your bid, and if you are the lowest bidder you will get it. By this mode -you will not exclude the Globe or the Republic, or any other office. And why then give it exclusively to the Union? Is it because they can do it better than any other? Not at all. They may do it equally as well. The only objection I have to the resolution is, that by it you confine the printing to certain individuals, and deprive the country of the benefit of competition. Mr. President, it is said that our work has been badly done. In some instances, I admit this may be so, but to make this declaration with respect to all of it, is unjust towards that old gentleman who formerly did our printing. I speak of Mr. Ritchie. To say that his work, so far as the printing is concerned, was not done honestly, and in good faith, is not true. The printing by Mr. Hamilton has been better than for many years preceding, and the paper has been honestly supplied, and all the material has been such as shows durability and clearness upon its face. Mr. BORLAND. I wish to inquire of the Senator from Georgia, if I understood him to say that the printing has been done according to con tract. Mr. DAWSON. Not at all. Mr. BORLAND. It is my duty to say that I have most carefully examined both the printing and the paper, weighing the paper with a pair of scales, prepared expressly for that purpose, and I find it to fall short, at least twenty-five per cent., of what the contract requires. Mr. DAWSON. I am not speaking about the contract; I maintain, though, that the paper and printing are both clear, and to my eye very good. Mr. BADGER. I move to fill it with fifty thousand. The PRESIDENT. The question will be first on the motion of the Senator from North Carolina to fill the blank with fifty thousand. When a division was called for ex xpense. Mr. PEARCE. Does this refer to the printing of a compendium or of the original returns? Mr. SMITH. The original returns as arranged in the Census Office. It is the large work. Mr. BADGER. I did not know that. Mr. PEARCE. The number is entirely too large. I think one-fourth of the quantity will be entirely adequate. Mr. BADGER. I thought it related to the compendium; but as it relates to the original returns, I withdraw my motion. States a right to judge whether they could bid But it is alleged, on the one side, that you have failed in all the special contracts which you have made; and on the other, that all the contracts which you have made by letting out the work to the lowest bidder have been a total failure. I will ask of the Senate, where is the special contract, which was made with the lowest bidder according to the terms specified, that has not been conformed to and the printing well done for the Senate of the United States? Is it your "Blue Book?" Is it Schoolcraft's publication in relation to the aborigines of this country? They have come up to the public expectation. They have come up to the contract. And, besides, if you let the work out to the lowest bidder, upon terms specified and agreed on, and the bidder fails to discharge his duty, what are your courts of justice intended for? What is the judgment of your body? You have the power of appropriation; and if there be a failure to comply with the contract, you have it in your power to stop the appropriation for it, and also to sue the violator of the contract and recover dam-considerations govern me in this matter. None at ages. Why, sir, has it come to this that there is such a want of confidence in the contractors with this Government that we should look necessarily for a failure, and that we should make a contract for an amount above what we could procure it for⠀⠀ from other individuals, merely to avoid the consequences of the failure on the part of contractors to conform to their contracts? It-is unjust to argue thus. The presumption is, that every man who enters into a contract is honest and will honestly conform to it. I stated that I preferred the amendment of the Senator from Connecticut; and why? Because it would permit competition to enter into the disposition of this contract; because it would give to all connected with the printing interest of the United Mr. President, I have very little interest in this all. I stand independent of all influence of that Mr. SMITH. There is a blank in the amend- print, before we can print it; or, what is the same At the suggestion of a friend near me, I ask for Mr. BRIGHT. The original law. which was introduced at the first session of the Thirty-first Congress, directing the taking of the Seventh Census, constituted the Secretary of State and Attorney General a Census Board. They were directed by the terms of the law to agree upon the statistics and enumerations of the inhabitants of the United States which were to be taken. The forms that are now in use or have been used were adopted. The census, the enumeration, and statistics were collected in pursuance of that law. The Superintendent of the Census Bureau has prepared at the head of each State, what is called a historical account of the State. A description of the counties, of their political organization, resources, &c., is also given. I understand some Senators to object to the printing of so much of that collection as relates to the counties. The resolution which I have offered, places it in the power of the committee to say whether it shall be printed or not. I do not see how the Senate can decide that. have proposed to refer it to the committee, inferring that they are the judges as to what should be printed in this case, as they have been in all other cases of printing-for when we introduce a bill or report, I believe, under the rule, it goes to that committee, and they have the power to decide whether it shall be printed or not, or at least to act upon it and recommend to the Senate what should be done. And I have known of no case where their report was overruled. Iquently do reject these recommendations. As a Mr. BORLAND. It has been done frequently. Mr. BRIGHT. At any rate, the original resolution contemplates the reference of this matter to that committee, and they are to decide what shall be printed, and upon what terms it shall be done. I shall not address myself to the amendment of the Senator from Connecticut, for the reason that I have no idea that it can be adopted. I think, however, that twenty-five thousand is an ample number; but that is a matter not provided for by my resolution. The committee can decide upon that and report to the Senate. Mr. BORLAND. The Senator from Indiana [Mr. BRIGHT] has fallen (inadvertently, I have no doubt) into a mistake upon two points: Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Pres Mr. BORLAND. Will the Senator permit me to make a single remark? Mr. DAVIS. Certainly. Mr. BORLAND. I will admit that the Superintendent of the Census has followed the general plan prescribed in the census bill for taking the census. But in the remarks I just now made I did not allude to that part of his duty; I was speaking of his other duty, required by the law, to classify and arrange the information collected, and prepare and lay before us a plan for its publication. I repeat, the census bill requires this lastnamed duty of him, and its due performance is an indispensable preliminary to our action upon the question of printing. We are not to print and throw out to the public the enormous and crude mass of matter made up of all the returns of all the marshals in the form in which it has been received at the Census Office. Why, sir, if we were so unwise as to undertake such a work as that, it would be difficult to estimate its cost in dollars and cents, and equally difficult, perhaps, to find room in the Capitol for the books after they were large enough to contain them. But the proper course alike for the Superintendent of Census and for us, is plainly and imperatively marked out by the law: He shall classify and arrange the information, and then lay his plan for its publication before us; and it becomes our duty, after adopting, modifying, or substituting that plan, to order the printing in accordance with the plan agreed upon. Any plan to be adopted must of course embrace such a condensation and digest of the whole mass of information as to bring it within a compendious and practicable compass for printing. 1st. He has, I think, misapprehended the preliminary census bill as to the functions and duties of the Census Board created by it. He proceeds upon the supposition that the powers of that Board were plenary, and its action final, in adopting the plan for taking the Seventh Census. In this he is mistaken. It was made the duty of that Board to prepare a plan, embracing schedules, for the use of the marshals in taking the census. That was the extent of its powers; and its action, even to that limited extent, was not final. It was required to report to this body what it had done. That report was made, and we all remember what was then done. A census committee was then appointed, to whom the report of the Census Board was referred. The plan proposed by the Board was revised, and materially modified by the committee. And the revision and modification did not stop there; but when the committee reported to the Senate, a protracted discussion was had-the whole subject was examined, per-printed. I feel quite sure this Chamber is not haps more thoroughly and critically than any other subject has ever been examined here; many days, indeed my memory is that several weeks, were occupied with it. Many, and in some respects radical, changes were made. In the schedules, whole columns were stricken out and others were added; and in several instances, I think, the captions were so altered as to give an entirely new character to the information to be collected. When we had done with it, in this respect, and adopted a general plan, which may be called a new plan, of our own, upon the basis, I admit, of those furnished us by the Board and committee, but materially differing from both, we were so careful to guard the consummation of a work to which we attached so much importance and upon which we had bestowed so much labor, that we would not agree that its results should be printed and published until it should again undergo our scrutiny and revision. For this final scrutiny and revision, we provided in the census bill, proper, passed at the conclusion of that careful and extended discussion, by requiring that the Superintendent of Census, after the information should have been collected, under the law and according to the plan we had adopted, should classify and arrange that information and lay it before us with a plan for its publication at this session of Congress. The duty of thus classifying and arranging the information collected under the census bill, and of laying it, together with a plan for its publication, before us, has not yet been performed. Until that shall have been done, we have nothing to act upon for the purpose of printing. There is nothing to print. 2d. The Senator is equally mistaken as to the functions and powers of the Committee on Printing. The powers of that committee, like those of all our other committees, are properly limited to making reports and recommendations. In the matter of ordering documents to be printed, its action is, in no case, final. A motion to print is made in the Senate, and then referred to the committee. This is followed by a report from the committee, which is only a recommendation which the Senate can adopt or reject at its pleasure; and it is well known that they not unfre Mr. DAVIS. I do not think it is very important to go into the history of the bill under which the census was taken, though I apprehend that both the gentlemen, especially the Senator who brings forward this resolution, are under some mistake about it. The truth is, that the Census Board, as it is termed, was directed by Congress to make a set of tables; but when Congress assembled, no set of tables was laid before them. They, however, appointed a special committee to enter upon this subject. That committee had accomplished nearly all their labors before any official report was made at all, and then a very large portion of their work, as my friend knows, was incorporated into the report of this very board. That is the history of those tables. They came in an unofficial form that had been worked out by a number of individuals who had been employed upon that subject. They contained information of very great value. They were of very great importance, but at the same time they were not officially laid before us. It was upon them that the tables were finally built up mainly and chiefly by the committee. But that is not of any importance. It was sufficiently discussed at the last Congress. Mr. President, I had supposed when the discussion upon this subject first commenced, when this topic was first brought before the Senate, that there was in preparation-indeed, I had seen it announced in the newspapers that there was in preparation-a condensation of the statistics for the State of Maryland, which was to be laid before Congress as a specimen of the method of the preparation, which would be followed out with the residue of the States and Territories. It has been so said since the subject has been under consideration here. Well, sir, it is quite necessary that this vast mass of matter, which I suppose goes into the Census Office by cart-loads, should be condensed with great judg ment and good sense, and reduced to some practical size, so that it can be brought into print without incurring any very enormous expense to do it, and into a form that will be useful to the public. On that hangs all the value of this immense undertaking of collecting statistics of population, &c. I do not know to what the expense of all this will sum up, but I suppose it will be from one to two and a half millions of dollars. My honorable friend from Connecticut says that it will be somewhere between seventeen and eighteen hundred thousand dollars. I speak of the expense of taking the census. I mean to say, that this information is acquired by the payment of a vast sum of money. It is either valuable or ought to be valuable. And, sir, when we are undertaking to arrange this matter so as to spread it before the public in a form that will make it accessible, I really think we ought to understand what we are about to do. Now, I would ask the Senator who takes the lead in this business, where is that account of the State of Maryland which was proposed to be laid before us? Mr. BRIGHT. I have a copy. Mr. DAVIS. I have not seen it on my table. It has not been communicated in any form that I have seen. Mr. BRIGHT. I will answer the Senator. I obtained a copy only by applying at the office for it, for the purpose of information. I obtained it as a sample to show the size of the work, and what would be the probable cost of it. I did not bring all which relates to the State of Maryland. Mr. DAVIS. The Senator says he has been favored with a part of it. We all want to see it. We all desire to see the plan, to see what the Superintendent of the Census proposes to do with the information which has been collected. After we have seen his plan and arrangement in regard to Maryland, we can form some opinion as to what will be the size of the work; whether the arrangement of the work is judicious; whether it is thrown into a form which will be most useful; or whether it is capable of improvement. If it is capable of improvement, the improvement ought to be made. Gentlemen ought to have an opportunity of seeing it. They ought to have an opportunity of examining it; and when they have done that, they can act understandingly on the subject, and not before, in my opinion. The act itself, as has been justly said by the Senator from Arkansas, [Mr. BORLAND,] provides that such an arrangement, when made, should be reported to this body. It ought to have been done long ago. We cannot act understandingly upon the business until we see what the plan of operations is—until we can comprehend what is to be done. Well, it is said that the statistics of each State, and of each county, and for aught I know, of each town, are to be preceded by a succinct history of the State and county. Now, if I do not misjudge, this is entirely out of place. It does not belong to statistics. It is no part of the object of Congress to publish a history of the country. It is to publish the figures with such explanations as will enable the reader to understand them. That is all. And of what importance is it to know whether a county exists, when it was first laid out, and when it was divided or subdivided? Of what importance is that? All that information can be obtained elsewhere with great ease. It belongs to other parts of history. It does not belong to statistics. Moreover, it is likely that by a process of that sort you will swell this work to a very inordinate size, at a very enormous expense; for it is carried on, as every one concedes, with an enormous expenditure. Then why should we trouble ourselves with this? Why not bring these tables down to the smallest possible compass, with an arrangement lucid in its character, and which should give the facts. That is what we want. We want a tabular statement; we want accuracy; we want a clear and succinct method of doing it; and that is what we desire. We do not want history. I did not wish to say one word about this matter; but when I am called on to vote without proper information before me, I must say that I feel extremely embarrassed in giving my vote. I do not know what I am to vote for. I do not see the plan of operations. I am not able to comprehend what is to be the size and magnitude of the work. If there is anything in the suggestion which has been thrown out-I trust there is not, I am not prepared to believe it-that there is a purpose of making a job of this, it will be easy to swell it out with historical matter, as to towns and counties and States. If this is a job to be paid for by the page or by the em, by a rule which pays them according to the proportionate magnitude of the work, there will be an inducement to swell it out. Under these circumstances, I think it very clear that we ought to understand at least something about the limits of this work; something about the extent to which it is to run, in all human probability. If we have laid before us the sample of a State which exhibits the method complete, then we can form a pretty good opinion when that comes to be run through the whole Union. Mr. COOPER. Mr. President, I think it must strike everybody that there is great wisdom in the suggestions which have been made by the Senator from Arkansas, [Mr. BORLAND,] and by the Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. DAVIS.] We are yet in the dark, and cannot know what we are doing until we have a sample of what is proposed to be done by the Superintendent of the Census. I understand, from the suggestions which have been made, that there is to accompany that which is, correctly speaking, the census, a historical account not only of the States, but of the counties, and perhaps of the towns in the States. I need not tell you, Mr. President, and I need not tell the Senate, that this must necessarily be very inaccurate, and but very little calculated to promote a knowledge of the condition of the country. We have seen gazetteers of several States, prepared by persons who have taken the utmost pains to ascertain the historical facts in relation to the States, and in relation to the counties, and yet we know how inaccurate.all these gazetteers are, and how little of accurate history they really contain. As has been remarked by the Senator from Massachusetts, it does seem to me that we are departing entirely from what ought to be the object of Congress in making an enumeration of the population and of those things which are properly statistical, when we go beyond the population and productions of the country, to give a history, by a gentleman competent to do the work which was originally intended, but, from the extent of the work, necessarily incompetent to give anything like an accurate history of the various States, and counties and towns in the States. I am opposed to this altogether; and before I can vote understandingly on this subject, I must be informed what is proposed. When I see the character of the work that is to be produced, I shall be prepared to say what number of copies I will be ready to vote for, what number of copies I suppose may be distributed with advantage amongst my constituents. But until I know that, I shall be voting in the dark. I therefore think this measure should be postponed for the present, until there is a sample or example of the work presented to the two Houses of Congress, in order that they may know what should be stricken out, and if there be anything that ought to be added, what it should be. I think that the suggestions made by the honorable Senator from Arkansas [Mr. BORLAND] and the honorable Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. DAVIS] contained much wisdom; and I hope that the resolution will be postponed, and that the subject will lie over until the sample shall be furnished which will enable us to vote understandingly. I repeat here that I am entirely opposed to a history gotten up in this way; for it must necessarily be a mass of trash. It is utterly impossible that a gentleman, however qualified he may be to write a history, if he had the time necessary, can give a correct history of all the States in this Confederacy, and of all the counties in those States, in the short time which has transpired since the taking of the census. Mr. HAMLIN. Mr. President, I shall detain the Senate but a very few moments. I have just had placed in my hands what purports to be a part of this work, as prepared at the Census Bureau. It appears to be the census returns for a part of the State of Maryland. It was the first knowledge I had that the head of our Census Bureau had turned historian. It was the first knowledge I had that the law we passed contemplated any such thing. Indeed the law does not contemplate any such thing. It neither contemplates such a thing, nor can you draw from it that power by any possible deduction. My friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. BRODHEAD] suggests that a twenty-four horse power might possibly draw it. I doubt it very much. I have turned to the law for the purpose of seeing what the law was, and comparing it with the thing which they have presented to us here for our action. The law is very plain and very clear. It prescribes, first, the duties of the marshals, and what they shall do; what information they shall collect and return to the Secretary; and then the section concludes by saying, "and further, as the returns are so made out, to cause the same to be classified and arranged in the best and most convenient manner for use, and lay the same before Congress at the next session thereof." Is there any power given there by which this Bureau was authorized to become an Historical Bureau? I know not how it may be with other Senators here, but I should regret exceedingly to see any one individual, however qualified he might deem himself for the task, make an attempt to condense the history of all the States. I know of no individual connected with that Bureau, with whom I would intrust that power, or the duty of condensing the history of the State from which I come. Who is there there who knows intimately of its great and extended commerce? Who is there there prepared to enter into those details that we should deem essential in our own State, and which would be necessary to do justice to the State, if they are to be sent broadcast over this land, and sent to other countries? Why, it is a monstrous stretch of power; and it is a key which shows why they have had a hundred and sixty clerks employed in that Bureau-a number truly astonishing employed for the purpose of compiling the statistics that were returned by the marshals. How accurate the History of Maryland may be I know not. I presume it is well written, but I have not read it, and do not mean to express an opinion. I am not qualified to judge of its correctness. But I do say, that I am unwilling, as one of the Representatives of one of the States, to intrust that power, or that duty, to these men. Besides that, I do not believe that it is properly connected with the work. Congress asked for no such thing in the law, and I do not believe they I will either ask or accept of it now. Why we have been accused already of turning bookmakers; and now comes the next phase, and we are turning historians. We are to publish the history of the States, if this plan is to be carried out. And more than this, we are to publish the history of counties; and we will next get down to the history of municipal corporations. We want this work; and we want to make it valuable, Valuable it may be made, from the information contained in the returns. I do not know what may be the views of other gentlemen with whom I am associated in the Committee on Printing; but this I do know-and I think it my duty frankly to express it to the Senate-if the duty, if the burden, is wrongfully placed on me, of making this contract, I say here in my place, that I will contract for printing no such matter, unless I am directed in express terms by the Senate to do so. If the Senate should deem it advisable to convert this body, or any of the committees under it, into historical bureaus, they may do so; and it will be my duty to act in obedience to their directions. I have the sample of the Census of the State of Maryland before me. The returns of the State of Maryland, which are comprised in this sample, make twenty-eight pages. Mr. BUTLER. That is only half of it. Several SENATORS named a larger number of pages. Mr. HAMLIN. I am not very ready in figures, but gentlemen can easily calculate it by multiplying twenty-one by thirty-one. Mr. BUTLER. What the Senator speaks of are only one half of the returns of the State of Maryland. Mr. HAMLIN. I am aware of that, but I judge from the appearance of that half that the concluding portion of it will be appropriate, to wit: the tables which show the population, and the various products of the industry of the State. It might have been well, when the census was first taken, to have confined it simply to an enumeration of the people; but the law for taking the census has already been passed, and I am not, at least, for transcending that law: I am not for going beyond that. Taking the State of Maryland as a State which will average with all the States, old and new, large and small, we shall have a work which will contain some six or seven hundred pages of historical matter. I saw in the outset of this resolution, as soon as it was presented, that it would meet with these various objections, and I have deemed it advisable to say, that my view of the subject would lead the committee, appropriately, to exclude all that part relating to the history of the States and counties from any contract which they might make, and I shall so act unless the Senate shall express a different opinion, or otherwise direct. Mr. PEARCE. Mr. President, I think the remarks which have fallen from the honorable Senator from Arkansas, and from other gentlemen, most abundantly satisfy the Senate that this discussion is premature, and that the resolution itself is premature. We really do not know what is the matter upon which we are now proposing to act. If the Senate would have a little patience; if they would wait some two or three weeks, they would be furnished with a sample of the work as the Superintendent of the Census proposes to have it done. I understand that he has prepared the returns of the State of Maryland, and that they are now in press, and are expected to be furnished to the Senate in the course of two or three weeks. When we get these returns, which will furnish a sample of the whole work, we shall understand what is his plan; and we shall not understand what his plan is until we get those returns. It is true that a brief historical sketch preceded the returns of each county. It may be true that the Senate may approve of the historical sketch; perhaps they will reject it. If they decide to reject it when they receive the returns of Maryland, nothing will be easier than to say that we disapprove of this historical sketch, and then the Superintendent of the Census may save himself the labor of making other historical sketches. In justice to the Superintendent of the Census, I must say that these historical sketches are very brief; and whether useful or not, they do not seem likely to fill such an enormous amount of space as the Senator from Maine supposes. It may not be desirable to publish them, but the calculation of the Superintendent of the Census is, that with all the historical sketches and tables, the returns will not exceed, at the utmost, two or three volumes of the size of the "American Archives." That is his calculation. But if the Senate will wait two or three weeks, until they get the sample which is being prepared, which will show what the work will be if his plan is adopted, they can have before them the information which the law contemplated. This sample is the report called for by the law. When the Senate get it, they can act understandingly. Until they do get it, they cannot act understandingly. I think it proper, therefore, to postpone the subject for two or three weeks; and I now move that the further consideration of this resolution be postponed until this day three weeks. Mr. HAMLIN. There are twenty-eight pages Mr. BUTLER. I was on the Census Comin it, as I said; but these twenty-eight pages only mitttee at the last Congress, and I desire, therecontain one half of the returns of the State. Twenty-fore, to say a few words now. I did not hear all one pages of these twenty-eight-more than two thirds are devoted to the historical account, to which I have already alluded. If twenty-one pages are to be appropriated to the historical account of each State and Maryland, at least, may be assumed to be a medium State-we would have some six or seven hundred pages of historical matter connected with the census returns. that was said by the Senator from Massachusetts. I have no doubt he gave a fair view of the difficulties of the subject. This is an exemplification of what I said at the time the census bill was before the Senate. I said at that time, that in my deliberate judgment, the act went beyond the scope of the Constitution. I say that the act under which the marshals have made their returns to the Superintendent of the Census, brought matters within the operation of the census which were never contemplated by the Constitution itself. I said then, that the Constitution provided that a census should be taken. What is comprehended under the word "Census?" Why, an enumeration of the population. For what purpose? To enable Congress to regulate the representation of the different portions of the Confederacy. It was also intimated, perhaps, that it might legitimately fall within the scope of such an agency to take also an estimate of property, real and personal. To that extent I was willing to go. But the act went further. It required a species of information, rather to satisfy the curious than to comply with the strict requisitions of the Constitution." This is history, it is said. It must be regarded, according to my notions, as of the same kind of information as that to which I have just alluded. And how does it come before the Senate? We supposed that in the act which we passed for taking the census, we imposed legislative sanctions, by which the information there provided for should alone be collected. But after the act was passed, I suppose, this Superintendent of the Census, or somebody else, wrote to the marshals, voluntarily, requiring them to become historians as far as regards collecting certain materials of the history of their own counties and districts. Who, then, is to be the historian? The Superintendent himself, taking these materials and making a book of them? I have heretofore regarded the office of a historian as one of the very highest importance, requiring a rare combination of industry, talents, and judgment; and, above all, a degree of deliberation, and extreme impartiality, and honesty in reviewing all the incidents and materials put before his mind. And here we are now proposing to add, after what has been provided by the act, a book of about fifteen hundred pages at least, composed of historical matter. I agree with my friend from Maryland that we ought not to act upon this subject without having a sample before us. But if we leave it to the Secretary of the Interior, to the Superintendent of the Census, or to any committee of the body, we do so blindly, on faith, when they may do what perhaps we might reject. If we had committed it to the Secretary of the Interior, and he had embraced these matters, we see what an abuse it might have been. If we had committed it to the Committee on Printing, they might have undertaken to have added these as an appendix to what the law requires, and that would have been an abuse. We cannot intelligently legislate on this subject, without having before us some sample of what is to be printed; and I would be prepared to strike out rather than to add, for I think we have required a great deal of curious information to be collected under the act not contemplated by the Constitution, much of which ought to be stricken out. I shall vote, therefore, to postpone, with a very clear view of the subject in connection with what I had of it before. Mr. BORLAND. Mr. President, I desire now merely to call attention to the language of the law, to which I have several times referred. First, however, I would correct the misunderstanding into which I find some of my friends have fallen, as to what I said of the manner in which the Superintendent of the Census has performed his duty in having the census taken. I was understood by some to indorse the manner in which he has performed that duty-to say that he had done so in strict conformity with the law. In this I was misunderstood. What I intended to say and what I think I did say-was, that I was willing to admit, and had no reason to doubt, that he had so performed that part of his duty. Whether he has so performed the duty or not, I have no means of knowing, for I have not seen the work. I based my admission in his favor, to that extent, upon the opinion-the correctness of which I have no reason to doubt that he is a gentleman of intelligence and integrity, who would do his duty under the law. But to the main purpose for which I rose. I said, and repeat, that, in my opinion, this whole movement for having the printing of the census undertaken at this time is premature, and not only not in conformity with the law, but in derogation of it. I hold that law in my hand, and find this subject disposed of in the nineteenth section. After prescribing the general duties of the Superintendent for taking the Census, and receiving the marshal's returns, it holds this language: "And, further, as the returns are so inade, to cause the same to be classified and arranged in the best and most convenient manner for use, and lay the same before Congress at the next session thereof." We have not Now, sir, this duty of the Superintendent has not been performed his plan, as required by the law, has not been laid before us. the matter before us which the law requires we should have before we act, and without which, in the very nature of things, we cannot make our action either sensible, practical, or useful. This, if it were needed, would be placed in a clearer and stronger light, by quoting another and subsequent passage of the same section of the law, providing directly and specifically for this very printing. I will read it, from the Proviso, at the close of the section: "The blanks and preparatory printing for taking the Census shall be prepared and executed under the direction of the Census Board; the other printing to be executed as Congress shall direct," How can we execute this provision of the law -how direct this printing to be done, unless we know what, and how much is to be done? The work we are now asked to have done, is not before us, and has never been here-indeed, it has no existence anywhere; for, remember, it is the "plan" of publication upon which we are to act, and in regard to which we are to give our " direction." It is certainly our duty, then, I think, to postpone all action upon the question until we have something to act upon. Mr. DAVIS. If the gentleman will allow me, I will recall one fact to his mind. In the original Census bill, as reported by the committee, there was a provision for printing the census returns. When the subject came to be discussed, it was found that there was so much difficulty attending the making of a provision by anticipation, that by common consent that provision was stricken out and there was substituted for it a clause that Congress should provide for the printing of the returns. It was said "We will wait until we see the returns before we make any order as to printing them.' Mr. BORLAND. The Senator from Massachusetts is correct in his recollection. I thank him for the suggestion. It was said that as we differed so much about the details of the general plan for taking the census-as the Census Board, the Census Committee, and the Senate each entertained different opinions on subjects which in all their parts were before us, we would, indeed, be acting unwisely to prescribe what should be done in matters of which we had, and then could have no knowledge whatever. So we reserved this final action to future discretion, when the only proper basis for correct action, the matter to be acted upon, should be fully and intelligibly before us. Certainly, no one, then, entertained the idea that the disposal of the main and most important point in. this whole matter, that upon which the value of all the work depended, and the disposal of which we so carefully guarded, was to be left to the discretion of a single individual, no matter what might be his qualifications. The law which, after protracted discussion, and the most careful revision, we then passed, reserved this final action to ourselves, and, in my opinion, wisely so reserved it. That law, also, prescribed the basis of our action-a basis which all must admit to be indispensable to useful action, and there I think it ought to rest, and so far as my vote will influence the decision, it shall rest. Mr. ATCHISON. I withdraw it. Mr. BRADBURY.. I understand the object of postponement to be that we may have an opportunity of examining the historical part of the document which is being prepared. The original act specifies with sufficient distinctness what is the duty of the Census Board. For one, I am totally opposed to going beyond what that act requires, and publishing anything more than that act made necessary. It has already been stated by a member of the Committee on Printing that he should not regard it as his duty to contract for the publication of any of the historical part of the work which is said to be prepared. He stated that he regarded it as no part of the census, and as having no necessary connection with the tables which should be published. I think that is the general opinion of the Senate. It is for that purpose that I am prepared to vote for the original resolution authorizing this committee to contract for the publication of the census. I really think that it is magnifying the labor of the clerks in the Census Bureau who have undertaken, as a work of supererogation, to turn historians, that we should delay for a fortnight or three weeks in order to examine their history, and see whether we will imbody it in the census returns. For one, I am totally opposed to it, and I do not think we need any delay for that purpose. I hope, therefore, that the motion, which I shall feel bound to renew, of the honorable Senator from Missouri, will not prevail, but that we shall get rid of this subject to-night. We wish to publish the census, and we wish to have the printing well done. Competent men are prepared to contract, and it is proposed that a committee, in whom we can repose confidence, shall contract with them, provided they can do it on fair terms. I see no difficulty, then, in the way of the adoption of the resolution at once. It seems to me that we shall only magnify a trifling matter by attempting to postpone our action to a future day. Time enough has already been occupied in debate on this question. We have seen resolutions of equal importance, involving an equal amount of expenditure, passed almost without debate. I presume that every Senator has made up his mind, and that we can act now as well as at any time. The difficulty that has arisen in the minds of Senators has arisen in consequence of the suggestion that the Census Bureau have gone beyond the requirements of the law, and have undertaken to give a historical detail of the States, the counties in the States, and perhaps the towns. Inasmuch as we shall not probably desire to embrace any such information in the census returns, I think we may as well act on the resolution now. According to promise, I renew the motion of the Senator from Missouri. Mr. BRIGHT. I hope the Senator will withdraw his motion, and I will renew it if he requests it. Mr. ATCHISON. I made the motion for the purpose of getting rid of debate, but I withdraw the motion to accommodate the honorable Senator from Indiana. Mr. BRIGHT. I find that this proposition is greatly embarrassed by a collateral question which has really nothing to do with it. This resolution is couched in very plain language. It directs the Committee on Printing to perform a certain duty -that duty is pointed out by a previous law. Á previous law of Congress prescribes that a census of the inhabitants of the United States shall be taken in a certain way-that certain statistics shall be collected under proper heads, and arranged and classified. This resolution merely contemplates that the Committee on Printing be directed to contract for the printing of this work. It now appears that the Board who have been charged with the duty of preparing these tables have added some extraneous matter. This question is embarrassed by the consideration whether this extraneous historical matter shall be printed. My impression is that Senators greatly magnify the amount of this printing; but I do not wish, by any act of mine, to seek to force gentlemen to vote without having an opportunity of understanding the question in all its parts; and as the mover of the original resolution I am willing to accept the motion of the honorable Senator from Maryland to postpone its further consideration until this day three weeks, to give Senators an opportunity of Mr. BRADBURY. If the Senator will with-looking into the matter. draw the motion, I will renew it. Mr. ATCHISON. Mr. President, it is my intention to move to lay this resolution on the table to effect the object intended to be effected by the Senator from Maryland, that this matter may be postponed until it shall be ascertained what it is we are to print. It is the opinion of the Senator from Maryland, and it seems to be the opinion of other gentlemen, that perhaps in two or three weeks this may be effected. Now, by laying the subject on the table, we will have a test question on whether it shall be postponed or not-not for the purpose of finally disposing of the resolution, but that it may lie on the table until the information referred to shall be received; and then any gentleman can move to take it up. I move to lay the resolution on the table. Mr. PEARCE. The motion submitted by me was to postpone the further consideration of this resolution until this day three weeks. Mr. BRIGHT. Let it be made the special order for one o'clock that day. Mr. PEARCE. I modify my motion, so as to include that. The motion was agreed to, and the resolution was postponed and made the special order for Tuesday, February 3d, proximo. On motion, the Senate adjourned. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. TUESDAY, January 13, 1852. The House met at twelve o'clock, m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Mr. MORGAN. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved. On motion by Mr. DUNCAN, leave was granted to withdraw from the files, for the purpose of transmitting to the office of the Commissioner of Pensions, the petition and papers in the case of Hector Brown. On motion by Mr. SIBLEY, it was Ordered, That the petition and papers of Charles Curceno be withdrawn from the files of the House and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. Mr. CLARK. I rise to ask the unanimous consent of the House to suffer the call of the States to proceed from the point where it ceased yesterday. It must be well known to gentlemen that there are many bills and resolutions to be introduced, and they cannot be introduced by right, except on resolution day, which does not occur again for two weeks. I trust the States will be called. Mr. STEPHENS, of Georgia. If the House will consent to do what they did on Friday morning-that is, allow the States to be now called for resolutions as they would have been in order under the rules on Wednesday last, all these bills can be introduced. The SPEAKER. Is it the pleasure of the House that this course shall be taken? Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I call for the regular order of the day. On motion by Mr. CULLOM, leave was granted to withdraw from the files of the House, for the purpose of laying them before the proper Department, the petition and papers in the case of John Ditty and Joseph Hadaway. to make suitable provision for extending a telegraph line from Fort Independence to the Pacific; which was ordered to lie on the table. Mr. FULLER, of Maine, from the Committee on Commerce, reported back, with an amendment and with a recommendation that it do pass, House bill No. 23, to amend an act entitled " An act to regulate the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels," approved February 22, 1847, and "An act to provide for ventilating passenger vessels," approved May 17, 1848; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed. Mr. F., also, from the same committee, reported the following bills, which were severally read a first and second time by their titles, referred to a committee of the Whole House, and made the order accompanying, ordered to be printed, viz: of the day for to-morrow, and, with the reports A bill for the relief of Williams, Staples Williams; and A bill for the relief of James Ferguson, the surviving partner of Ferguson & Milhardo. On motion by Mr. WALSH, the Committee on Commerce was discharged from the further consideration of the petition of John McKee and Henry Lelf, asking for indemnity for losses sustained by the illegal seizure of the barque "Mary Teresa;" and it was referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. HALL, from the Committee on Public Lands, reported a bill further to extend the time for locating Virginia military land warrants, and returning surveys thereon to the General Land Office; which was read a first and second time by its title. Mr. HALL moved that the bill be referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and that it be printed. Mr. STANTON, of Ohio. I desire to say something against the bill when it comes up for consideration. Mr. TAYLOR. That bill relates to an unsurveyed tract of country in the district which I have the honor to represent, and I would inquire if it is not in order now to have it put upon its passage? The SPEAKER. It will be in the power of the House to order that it be engrossed and read a third time. The first question will be upon com Mr. TAYLOR. Is it in order to submit any remarks upon the bill? [Mr. BARRERE, from the Committee on En-mitting it. rolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled the joint resolution for the transportation of the United States mail in California and Oregon; and it was then signed by the Speaker.] REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Mr. HOUSTON, from the Committee of Ways and Means, reported a bill making appropriation for the support of the Military Academy for the year ending the 30th June, 1853; which was read a first and second time by its title, referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed. Mr. MACE, from the Committee of Claims, reported a bill for the relief of William Greer; which was read a first and second time by its title, referred to a Committee of the Whole House, and made the order of the day for to-morrow, and, with the report accompanying, ordered to be printed. Mr. MACE, from the Committee of Claims, made an adverse report on the petition of J. C. Linn for damages for injuries sustained by the conduct of certain United States troops; which was ordered to lie on the table and be printed. On motion by Mr. SEYMOUR, of New York, the Committee on Commerce was discharged from the further consideration of the petition of Lewis H. Bates and William Lacon, asking to be indemnified for losses sustained by them in consequence of a legal seizure of a quantity of iron imported by them, and that it be referred to the Committee of Claims. The SPEAKER. Remarks are in order upon the propriety of referring the bill to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. tend the time of locating Virginia land warrants in Mr. TAYLOR. The object of that bill is to exthe district of country commonly known as the Virginia military lands. The time for locating those lands having expired upon the first day of eity of Chillicothe is closed against the entering this month, the Virginia military land office in the of lands in that district, until such a bill as the present may pass. I can see no objection to the passage of the bill immediately. I will not detain the House many minutes upon the subject. But my colleague has some objection to the bill, which may be as well presented now as at any other time. It is simply a question of time for locating these warrants, two or three years-similar bills having passed this House for the last eight or ten years, with a view of closing that office. It is a singular fact, that in Ohio the only unsurveyed lands in the State are within this military district, being about eighty-five thousand acres. possible to survey, locate, or appropriate them by the holders of warrants, unless we pass such a bill as this. I can see no objection to extending the time. Certainly the interests of the State of Ohio, as every other section of the country interested in these Virginia military warrants, require that this office should be kept open. We have a Surveyor General who was appointed by President It is im On motion by Mr. SEYMOUR, the Committee on Commerce was discharged from the further consideration of the petition of William H. Top-in Ohio are preserved. I do not suppose that it ping, praying for compensation as clerk to take testimony in relation to the New York customhouse, and it was referred to the Committee of Claims Mr. SEYMOUR, from the Committee on Commerce, made an adverse report on the petition of William D. Allen and others, praying Congress and who keeps an office in Chillicothe, where the original records of the Virginia military district is the desire of my colleague to shut up that office, and prevent the location of eighty-five thousand acres of land yet unsurveyed; and I hope the House will pass the bill. I can see no impropriety in it. Congress has repeatedly had the subject under its consideration; and so far as I know, no objection has been made to extending the time. I may be asked, why I wish the time to be extended?" It is because I wish the surveys to progress, that this vacant land may be entered, and to stimulate the holders of warrants to locate them speedily, so that this Virginia military district may be surveyed and settled. The time has been extended for two years at a time by several acts of Congress, all of which have now expired, and I merely ask that it may be again extended. I ask that the bill be now put upon its passage, and I hope that it will pass. Mr. RICHARDSON. There are a number of other gentlemen who desire to make reports from committees, and as this is an important bill, and one likely to give rise to much discussion, 1 move the previous question. Mr. STANTON, of Ohio. I hope the gentleman from Illinois does not intend to force this bill through under the operation of the previous question. Mr. RICHARDSON. I want to send it to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, where it can be fully debated. Mr. STANTON. I have no objection to its commitment. The question being taken on seconding the demand for the previous question, there were ayes 82, noes 6-no quorum voting. Mr. RICHARDSON demanded tellers; which were ordered, and Messrs. TAYLOR and SAVAGE appointed. Mr. TAYLOR inquired of the Chair, what would be the effect of the previous question? The SPEAKER stated that the effect would be to bring the House to a vote, first upon the motion to refer, and then-in case of the motion to refer being negatived-upon the engrossment of the bill. The question was then taken, and it was decided in the affirmative-ayes 120, noes not counted. So the previous question received a second. The main question was then ordered, which was upon the motion to refer the bill to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and order it to be printed. the affirmative-ayes 106, noes not counted. The question was taken and it was decided in So the bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed. Mr. McLANAHAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported back a bill “authorizing the payment of interest to the State of New Hampshire for advances made for the use and benefit of the United States in repelling invasion and suppressing insurrection at Indian Stream in said State," with an amendment and recommendation that the bill do pass. Mr. McL. moved that the bill be referred to the Committee of the Whole House, made the order of the day for to-morrow, and be printed. Mr. STUART. It seems to me that that bill the Whole on the state of the Union. I move would go more appropriately to the Committee of that it be so referred. Mr. McLANAHAN. The reference of a similar bill was made last session to the Committee of the Whole House. This is a claim of very great merit, and one that should receive the action of the House at as early a day as possible. Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I would inquire of the gentleman from Pennsylvania if that bill does not make an appropriation, and is not a general bill to pay money to one of the States? Now, a bill of that kind is never treated as a private claim and sent to the Committee of the Whole House, but is sent to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, where the largest latitude of debate is allowed. Mr. McLANAHAN. In reply to the gentleman from Tennessee, I will inform the House that this is in the nature of a private claim, and that the bill and report are therefore properly referable to the Committee of the Whole House. It is not a public or general claim, but it is a claim set up in equity and justice against the United States for the payment of a certain sum to the State of New Hampshire for military services rendered by her. Similar claims have been allowed to other States, and I believe that in every instance the reference has been to the Committee of the Whole House. This bill was reported at the last session of Congress, but failed to be acted on for want of sufficient time. I think that under the rules, as well as the precedents, the motion |